Ecosystems
Name 3 physical (nonliving) components of an ecosystem.
Ex. water, air, sunlight, soil, wind, temperature, climate...
What is it called when the whole population of one animal does not exist anymore?
Extinction
What is a food chain?
The feeding relationships in an ecosystem.
What are the different relationships between animals in a food web?
Mutualism, Commensalism, Parasitism, Competition
Name 4 terrestrial ecosystems.
Forests, deserts, tundra, grasslands
Name all 3 living components of an ecosystem.
Plants (flora), animals (fauna), microorganisms
What are 3 things that can harm the biodiversity in an ecosystem.
Invasive species, global warming, human activity
What are producers? Give an example.
What is Mutualism?
Mutualism - 2 species help each other and both benefit.
Name the 2 different types of aquatic ecosystems (and give an example of each).
Marine ecosystems (open ocean, shoreline, coral reef)
Freshwater ecosystem (standing water - pond, lake) (moving water - river, stream)
What is a habitat?
What is biodiversity?
All of the different types of living organisms that live in an ecosystem.
What are consumers? What type of animals can consumers be?
Consumers eat other living organisms.
Herbivores - primary consumers that eat plants/algae.
Carnivores - secondary consumers that eat other consumers (meat).
Omnivores - secondary consumers that eat both plants and animals.
What is Parasitism?
Parasitism - Relationship where one species benefits (parasite) and the other species is harmed (host.)
What are artificial ecosystems? give an example.
Ecosystems that humans built that have both natural and artificial elements, for example cities.
What is a population? What is a community?
Population - group of 1 species of animals
Community - Different populations (species) of animals interacting in an ecosystem.
What are invasive species? Why are they bad for the ecosystem?
Invasive Species - a species of organisms that are not native to an ecosystem.
They are bad because they can take food from the native species or they can hunt and kill native species - destroys the balance of an ecosystem.
Name all of the parts in a food chain.
Producers, Primary Consumers (herbivores), Secondary consumers (carnivores and omnivores -predators), Tertiary Consumers (predators and scavengers), Decomposers
What is Commensalism?
Commensalism - a relationship where one species benefits but does not affect the other species.
Name the different types of grassland ecosystems.
Savannah (tropical areas) and temperate grasslands (colder areas).
What is an ecosystem?
The unique living and nonliving components of a specific area.
Why should we protect biodiversity?
Biodiversity allows there to be balance in an ecosystem and keeps ecosystems healthy. We all need healthy ecosystems because we all depend on each other to get food, water, and other resources.
What is the difference between decomposers and scavengers?
Scavengers find dead animals to eat, but they still eat the meat of the animal (it's still fresh).
Decomposers feed on decomposing/rotting dead organisms and break down the dead material.
What is the difference between a food chain and a food web?
A food chain shows one of the ways animals consume each other (and energy flows) in an ecosystem. A food web is ALL of the food chains combined in one ecosystem.
Name the different types of forest ecosystems.
Coniferous (evergreens - leaves don't fall), Deciduous (leaves fall), Mediterranean, Tropical Forests